Andy O

Showing your age with Opel Fruits here lads, Starburst is what that cool kids call them these days

Maybe after another year of them leaving those jerseys out in the sun, to fade even more, they’ll actually be nice

Ah it’s lovely, don’t love the collar trend in rugby jersies in general, but this is cool. After the yellow and weird European kit this is a welcome return to form imho

Wilco Louw to the Stormers possibly. Huge blow/get for either team. Could you imagine if a transfer like that happened in Ireland?!? 🤯

Tadhg Furllong to Ulster 😂

Sua’ali’i walks it… weird timing for this, right before TRC, may easily be Holland in a few weeks but hasn’t played enough games

Don’t have a problem with this ban cause it’s the standard, however the standard is a joke.

I’d watch any rugby, if the good people at TV are good enough to put it on, I’ll watch… international, club, even the Currie Cup(!)… if it’s on in my area, I’ll go…

That said, this Lions tour was terrible and I don’t know why…. Love watching the likes of Skelton or Genge etc, but not in this form

So the 6 chances (out of 12 games) is the only chance?!? 😂

But seriously, really hope they grab the opportunity. Seeing a couple of the 32yo+ players decline quite quickly in the past 6 months.

Id say the lads that pay his salary would prefer he plays in Nov, not Dec…

This came after 2,372 mins last year, it’s nuts, if they keep sending him out for 80 against eg Fiji and Munster’s SA tour, then we all better enjoy him now, cause he won’t be around for long.

Is Tadhg Beirne my favourite rugby player ever? He’s getting close

So your issue is something else entirely cause none of these guys have central contacts.

If Ireland had the contacting system of say NZ or Wales, Farrell would have done exactly the same thing. Contracting doesn’t fall under his role and it’s disingenuous of TRK or anyone to blame him for it 👍

But interesting that you too won’t answer my question, what should he have done? Decided around 2021 not to play any non-centrally contracted Leinster players, just in case they become centrally contracted??

It’s a byproduct of system that others are to blame for… and he doesn’t deserve criticism for it, have said that repeatedly. It’s akin to any of us getting criticised in our jobs, because doing your job well has caused some byproduct that is controlled exclusively by your boss or their boss.

It’s a pretty, silly criticism, he’s a coach, his job is to win matches, he’s good at it, if that has a byproduct of pushing contracts around then your issue is with Nucifora, Potts etc

What should he do? Have taken a decision at some point that there were too many contracts in one place and not pick any more players from there, just in case they get a central? McCarthy, JGP, Sheehan being the latest should be uncapped? Should he have started before then? Doris and Keenan?

All the elite clubs, he’ll be happy with any of them 💪

Nope… the contracting system, designed by others, before Farrell took the job does that 🤷🏼‍♂️

You see? 😂😂😂

“Aki’s a quality player” is another one they struggle with

His comments around Mack’s fitness would suggest that he’s still a possibility

Yeah well now we’re getting to the real point and why I replied to this… some people don’t like Farrell for these newly mentioned reasons and that’s fair enough, but then some want to blame him for everything as a result, which is kinda petty and actually distracts from some valid criticism imho

That’s entirely my point… the HC’s job is to make the team successful, it’s someone else’s job to make the echo system of the game successful

Don’t disagree with that in any way, it’s still not the HC who decided the contracting model, it ain’t his fault, it’s a byproduct of him doing his job

I was entirely against the system, am glad it has changed, it probably needs to change more, but the Irish head coach is an end user of the system, not the architect

You’re jumping to the end point of a system and deciding arbitrarily that was the issue with the system… what would you have any HC do in that model? Refuse to pick a player from one team because they have too many centrals already? Cant think of a coach in pro sports operating under such restraints

They do, but that’s an irrelevance from a head coaches point of view, taking that into consideration would be ludicrous… who’s the last Leinster central? McCarthy? Should be not pick him because there are too many contracts at Leinster already? Sheehan before that?

Appreciate what you’re trying to say and your feelings towards the guy, but Farrell’s selections have no impact on provincial finances (aside from maybe attendances), the contracting system has the destabilising influence on provincial finances

Ice, ice cold from Andy Farrell not to include Josh VDF in any test.

Slight caveat being a bunch of Dublin players were signed differently out of school last year and therefore weren’t competing with this group. Cool nonetheless

Leinster academy intake super interesting this year, 9 players in, ONE for Dublin and a Dublin schools, clubs like Naas, Boyne, Newbridge, Wexford Wanderers, Tullamore & Portarlington all represented.

Definitely pulling for this group to make the step up.